With Valentine’s Day fever setting in, most couples plan a mushy dinner date or flock to classic rom-coms. But why not spice things up with a touch of fear? The idea might seem unconventional, yet there’s something thrilling about blending love stories with horror elements. These films explore passion through unsettling, darkly atmospheric lenses, proving that romance can exist in the most unexpected and haunting forms.
From “Crimson Peak” to “Audition”, here, we’ve rounded up some of the most heart-racing, heart-ripping, and heart-crushing love-laced chillers to watch on the most romantic day of the year.
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
A remake of the 1981 classic, “My Bloody Valentine” follows Tom (Jensen Ackles), a young man who witnesses a brutal attack in a mine early on in the film and then returns to the community 10 years later. As you’d guess, the pickaxe murders start up again as Tom reconnects with his high school girlfriend, who is now married to the shady local sheriff. The original movie film is also worth a watch, as both cover love triangles, revenge, and gore.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
In “Only Lovers Left Alive”, Eve (Tilda Swinton) and Adam (Tom Hiddleston) are a couple of the coolest, most attractive vampires you’ll ever come across. They’re cultured, erudite, stylish, and have great friends. They’ve been married for just about forever and spend a lot of time apart, during which time Adam has become morbid and suicidal. They reunite when Eve senses his despondency and things are on the up, but when her naughty sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska) arrives, she brings a heap of trouble with her.
Crimson Peak (2015)
Guillermo del Toro’s gothic romance “Crimson Peak” follows a young writer Edith (Mia Wasikowska) in the Victorian era who marries into a crumbling English estate, only to discover its eerie secrets. He’s overly attached to his sister and there are some spirits roaming the halls.
With haunting visuals, a foreboding atmosphere, and a love story entwined with ghostly horrors, the film is a perfect blend of passion and peril.
Fresh (2022)
“Fresh” shows the worst turn modern dating can possibly take. Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) has had a slew of failed online dates. She eventually aims to find someone in an organic way, in which she meets Steve (Sebastian Stan). After a few dates, she agrees to go out with him and the two decide to go on a trip together against her friend’s advice. She thinks he’s a great guy and trusts him, until she wakes up shackled to the floor in his basement.
Valentine (2001)
Remember the kid everyone ignored on Valentine’s Day? Well, he remembers you. “Valentine” follows a young boy that forces himself on Dorothy (Jessica Capshaw) at a Valentine’s Day dance in middle school. When everyone finds out, he is bullied extensively, expelled, and sent away to a mental institution. Flash forward to high school, and Dorothy and her friends become the target of a killer donning a Cupid mask, no doubt as a result of them being bullies in middle school.
Audition (1999)
“Audition” is the story of a recently widowed man, Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), who takes it upon himself to set up a fake production and auditions to serve as a dating service for his benefit. At the fake audition, he becomes interested in Asami (Eihi Shiina) and decides he would like to date her. Things are going well until they aren’t, and he finds himself in a very deadly situation with a woman who has experienced years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of men she trusted.
Ready or Not (2019)
In “Ready or Not”, a newlywed named Grace (Samara Weaving), quickly discovers that all of her in-laws are trying to kill her in order to appease an ancient curse that threatens to destroy their board game empire. Shortly after, she partakes in a deadly game of hide and seek with her in-laws on her wedding night. She’s pretty much on her own, running through the mansion, ripping off bits of her lovely wedding dress as she tries to survive until dawn.
